Chapter 3: All Encompassing

Summary: Sam feels the burn

It was three days after the shit show that cracked the Devil's cage open; Sam and Dean stood in Bobby's hospital room as the man rolled around in his wheelchair, grumbling loudly. His grouches consisting of copious amount of complaining, finely dusted with curses crass enough to make even the most hardened of sailors blush.

Dean looked amused at the griping, giving Bobby a lopsided grin.

"No worries, man. Doc says you'll be up and kicking ass in no time." Dean said, prompting a glare from Bobby.

"You're not the one on their ass in a wheelchair after impersonating a pincushion, boy." Bobby snapped, causing Dean to smile again, holding his hands up in surrender.

After awhile of watching the endless entertainment that was Bobby, the boys stepped out of the room for a moment. The smile fell off Dean's face as soon as they got out, his demeanor shifting into something a bit more cold.

"He's going to be ok, Dean." Sam offered weakly. He'd been walking on eggshells around his brother since their talk in the parking lot, finding it difficult to say anything when Dean kept up his apathetic behavior towards him. Dean nods to him, not looking overly convinced. It was then that the boys heard Bobby yelling in his room.

They barged in, guns drawn just as Bobby slapped his phone closed.

"River Pass, Colorado."

The battle with War was, if Sam could admit, was a huge shit show. Almost as bad as that night in Ilchester.

It had started when the two had walked into River Pass (the Impala left at the broken bridge leading into town), eyes peeled for anything. But there was nothing. And that had been the strange part.

There was no people around: no kids playing in the park, pedestrians bustling from shops or from work, no animals. It was as if every living thing had vanished between Rufus's call and their arrival.

They had been eyeballing Rufus's wrecked truck when Ellen snuck up on them and put them through their paces. Sam got a chuckle out of the bitch slap she gave Dean, but her scolding after damped it down real quick.

Things went downhill from there.

The civilians-turned-hunters, the town full demons, and Jo and Rufus were missing. Sam and Dean headed out for guns and salt, but not before a bit of verbal sparring in which Dean wants Sam to stay inside, away from the demons. He didn't say it in those words, but Sam knew what he was implying, and fuck if it didn't make him angry. More at himself than anything.

Grabbing the salt and placing it quietly in the bag, Sam was lost in thought.

This whole thing felt off. Sam had residual abilities from when he was hopped up on demon blood, and his demon radar was one of them. But he didn't feel any demons around for miles. It was frustrating.

His frustration became worse when two men - fuck, not even men, they were fucking teenagers- came into the store sporting demon eyes.

Sam could feel a migraine coming on as his eyes recognized them as demons, but his gut screaming that all was not right and that the kids were as human as any. His stomach turned from nerves and he could feel that familiar burn in his chest. And suddenly he could feel it, like there was a film over his eyes, itchy and irritating. He longed to reach up and pull it away from his eyes. So he did. Fingers came up, the tips of them burning as he grabbed whatever was covering his eyes and ripping it away like the sticky spider webbing you see in movies.

The illusion parted away and suddenly he could see clearly once more. The inky blackness melted away to show two pairs of apprehensive, fearful eyes that scanned the store cautiously.

Sam ducked and kept quiet, his fingertips rubbing together as the teens walked further into the store. One of the two moved to the counter, his back facing the isle Sam was in. Without thinking much on it, Sam lunged, one arm coming into a choke hold, the other scraping at the space in front of the teen's eyes with burning fingers.

The boy yelled, trying to throw Sam off of him, but failing under Sam's larger bulk and greater experience.

Sam heard more yelling from behind him and the 'shink' of an unsheathed knife.

Acting quick, the hunter yanked away whatever it was manipulating the kid's vision before throwing him away just in time to catch the flailing arm of the other teen, who had come up behind him.

The burn inched its way further into his hand, the heat flaring in his palm as he set his hand against the kid's forehead and ripped the stuff off like seran wrap. He probably wasn't as gentle as he should have been, because the kid fell to the floor with a yell, clutching his face.

A whisper of cloth was his only warning before he was being barreling into, knocked into, and over, one of the shelves, causing the whole thing to topple over. The first kid was swinging like crazy with the knife, his movements frantic and untrained.

"Wait! Wait stop! Im not a demon!" Sam yelled, batting off the kid's piss-poor knife jabs. He got the kid into another headlock, holding him down as he chanted over and over that he wasn't possessed.

"You were under some sort of spell that made you see demons! I took it off!" he yelled, the kids struggles slowing down as his words seemed to come to him.

"Bullshit!" the youth yelled, "Let go of me you black-eyes son of a bitch!"

It takes a good few minutes to get him to calm down enough to talk some sense into, along with his friend that had been laying on the floor cradling his head.

"So the whole town wasn't possessed? We were just hallucinating?" The first kid, Derek said, his face ashen as he realized all the implications of that. Todd, the second kid, looks ready to throw up.

"How can you tell?" Todd asks, looking lost.

"Ive been around the supernatural long enough to know when something aint right." Sam explained from where he was kneeling in front of the two.

"An the" Derek makes a vague, flapping motion around his eyes, "How'd you do that?"

"As i've said, ive been around." Sam lied. But how was he supposed to tell them that he had no clue himself? He had just felt it, then pulled.

The kids were quiet for a moment.

"What now?" Todd asked quietly, both of them looking at Sam like he had all the answers for everything.

"Now, i need to get the spell off of everyone and see what cast it." Sam replied, his voice strong. He needed to be sure, certain, to reassure these boys nothing bad would happen under his watch.

Before anything could be further said, the door chimed again.

The teens tensed up, looking at Sam with panic. He placed a finger over his mouth, shushing them, before adjusting where he was kneeling so he could look into the corner mirror.

A Familiar figure walked in and called out "Sammy!" causing Sam to relax.

"Dean," he stood, moving over to his brother.

But he was greeted with the butt of a shotgun to the face.

Sam could feel his nose crack under the hard material. Stumbling back, Sam gripped his nose, yelling at Dean for being a dick. The resulting fight was difficult, Dean yelling about demons and Sam quickly put together than his brother thought he was possessed. Sam yelled at the teens to stay away as he fought his brother, not wanting the two to get caught between two seasoned hunters.

"Dean! I'm not possessed! The town is under a curse!" Sam yelled as he parried a punch from Dean. He continued to yell out the inconsistencies: how salt and holy water didn't work on the demons, how exorcisms didn't work. Both were huffing by the end, parted far enough not to be able to touch one another. Both sported new shiners, Sam had a busted lip and a new set of aches in his body, Dean was less bruised but huffing harder and looking at Sam like he couldn't decide between hearing him out or going in for another few swings. Sam gave his brother a morose look before admitting the last fact:

"I can't feel any demons, Dean." he said quietly, both prepared and not for Dean's sharp look. After a few tense moments of stand off, Dean relaxed his stance and nodded.

"What do you think it is? Witch?" he asked to which Sam shook his head.

"No it doesn't feel like it." he edged towards Dean, reaching out slowly towards his face with tingling fingers. Dean was giving him a hard stare as he did this, glaring right into his eyes as if to challenge him to try something.

Sam's fingers met with the filmy substance over Dean's eyes and gently pried it away causing Dean to blink several times. His brother rubbed at his eyes with one hand before looking around again, his stance relaxing further now that he wasn't seeing demons at every turn.

After Sam explained what went on in the store, the kids Todd and Derek, the four hightailed it out of the shop and back to base. It was only halfway there that one of the kids, Derek, spoke up.

"Wait, if we don't have the spell on us anymore, and the spell caused this dude to see you as a demon without it, how are your people going to see the four of us?"

Shit, that was a good point.

Dean and Sam traded glances before the elder indicated his head towards an abandoned house. The four traveled inside, the kids going to raid the kitchen to find anything useful as Dean and Sam talked.

"You're demon powers are still there? I thought the fight with Lilith cleaned you out?" there was an accusatory tone to Dean's question and a hard look in his eye.

Sam sighed, "I can't do what I could before, Dean. There is no mind i can just feel when demons are around."

If anything, Dean's look got harsher and Sam could practically see what he was thinking.

"I havent drank any demon blood, Dean! After everything, I learned my lesson."

"Have you?" Dean bit out. Sam felt anger and sadness well up in his chest, burning through his body.

"If you actually think that i-!" Sam's voice cut off as he ground it teeth together to keep the traitorous waver in his voice from slipping out. He shoved at Dean, barreling past him quickly before he did something he would regret.

He was angry, so angry that Dean thought he'd go down that road again, that he'd think he'd fall that far. A nagging voice in the back of Sam's head whispered that Dean was valid in his concerns, that he had fallen and chosen evil over him before. Sam banished the thoughts as he stormed from the house and down the road.

He kicked a few rocks across the sidewalk, unsatisfied with the small act of violence. He wanted to punch something, to fight until he was breathless and his body ached as much as his heart did.

He was quite content to stew in his dark, sorrowful thoughts by himself, thank-you-very-much. But the world didn't give breaks for sulking and Sam quickly found himself surrounded by people holding shotguns at him. Sam was quick to remember that he had left his shotgun at the house and only had a few knifes on him as weapons. Not that he wanted to hurt these people, but he'd feel much better having something with a bit more range than his knifes. Sam raised his hands up in surrender as the group closed in. He recognized two of the people as Rufus and Jo and tried to call out to them. But anything he would have said was quickly cut off by the butt of a gun knocking into the back of his head and knocking him out cold.

Sam woke up in a dark room. It was warm and he could hear the crackle of fire off to his left. He could also feel the hard wood of the chair under him, and the tightness of the bindings around his wrists and across his chest. He tested the bindings, pulling at them to find they were well tied and held him down firmly in place.

He looked up blearily at the room, his eyes squinting as dark spots danced along his vision. He had a killer headache, and Sam could thank the small mercy of the room being dark enough not to hurt.

He spotted Jo and Rufus immediately, standing outside of what appeared to be a devil's trap that he was in. Both of their eyes were clear and looking at him in contempt. He had to quickly remind himself that they saw a demon looking out, not Sam.

"Jo, Rufus, you got to listen-" his words were cut off with a firm backhand from Rufus.

"Shut up, you evil son of a bitch." Rufus growled out in his low-timber voice, which reminded Sam of the Impala starting up. Jo threw water on him, coating his face and chest.

It was… nice. The water brought with it a pleasant hum under his skin. It dripped down his face and soaked his hair, carrying away the aches in his head and eyes. He swallowed the bit of water than had gotten into his mouth reflexively, eyes fluttering as the burn that had been ever presence in his chest seemed soothed, jagged edges of pain rolling away with every drop of water. He let out a low sigh as the burn dimmed down to a pleasant warmth.

Sam opened his eyes to the two hunter's confused faces.

"What was that?" he asked, but he already had a feeling. The hunters didn't respond, just moving forward as one, Rufus pulling out salt and pouring it over his face and into his mouth as Jo held his head back. He tried to talk to them, but between spitting out salt and keeping his eyes closed so none would get in them, it wasn't going well.

He managed to spit out only 'cursed' and 'spell' before they stopped, gagging on half dissolved salt. Jo splashed him once more before the two relented and pulled away. Sam lept on the chance.

"Rufus, jo, listen! The town's been cursed, there is no demons! Just a spell making us see them." He rushed out, pulling at the binding in ernest. The two pulled away, whispering furiously to one another for a moment before moving back.

"How can we trust you, demon? You expect us to believe your lies?" Jo demand, gripping the jug of holy water like her life depended on it.

"The salt and the holy water aren't working because I'm not a demon," Sam argued, "we were able to pull the spell off me and Dean and two other kids, Todd and Derek." The names had the two hunters glancing at one another. "But now it makes us appear like demons to others."

They looked like they were coming around, but Sam knew he'd need that little extra push, so he started reciting an exorcism.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas-" he recited it, all the way to the end. By the last word, Jo and Rufus looked convinced, but still warry.

"How'd you get the spell off?" Rufus asked.

"I'm not sure on the specifics, but i was able to pull it off. It's centered around the eyes. Feel for it, it should feel like webbing or a film." The two patted around their face, their eyebrows furrowing as they felt nothing. "Unbind me, i can take it off."

That was the wrong thing to say, as both hunters were right back on the defensive and Sam wanted to groan in dismay.

"I just proved i wasn't a demon, guys, Im Sam Winchester. Look under my shirt, my anti-possession tattoo is still in place, no break in the sigil. I recited the exorcism and I'm immune to salt and holy water. Come on guys." He pleaded. Rufus gave Jo a long look and went and grabbed the shotgun that was close by, causing Sam to stiffen. Jo pulled out a knife, walking forward slowly.

Jo cut through his bindings as Rufus stood at the ready, shotgun pointed at Sam's head.

Sam stood, splaying his fingers outwards, showing no ill intent. He waited a second before moving one hand forward slowly. He stilled for only a moment as Rufus pumped his shotgun, ready to unload it in Sam's head if he so much as twitched wrong.

The warmth in Sam's chest was slowly coming back to a burn, the ache creeping down his arm and into his hand as he focused all he could on what he knew was there. His fingers tingled as they connected to something right in front of Jo's eyes, the filmy substance he had felt a handful of times before.

He gently pulled back, focusing on the feel of the spell under is fingers, the sounds, the smells and tastes of it in the air. It was gross, slimy against him now that he was focusing on it. He could feel it everywhere and in everyone. Like inky sap that surrounded everything. It tasted like rotten apples and the irony taste of blood, it smelled worse.

He pulled it, not only away from Jo's eyes, but out of her completely, like pulling a wraith from a body and casting it aside. The burn hummed pleasantly in his chest as some of the wrongness in the room faded.

Jo blinked, one hand coming up to rub at her eyes.

"Holy shit." She said breathlessly, looking stricken. She looked over to Rufus, who had frozen. He stared at the both of them and Sam kept his hands raised. The older hunter's eyes were wide and he looked ready to blow them both away now.

"Remember Rufus, the spell is no longer on her, so it's going to make you see her as a demon." He could feel the burn traveling up his chest and into his neck, like lava moving through his veins, up into his throat and coating his tongue as he spoke.

"Let me help," he said softly. He could feel the burn in his mouth, covering and merging with his words as they escaped, resonating in a way it never did before. But it seemed to work. Rufus lowered his gun, his eyes never leaving Sam's.

Sam repeated his actions with Rufus, slow and steady pulling the spell away from his eyes and out of his body.

The older hunter slumped in relief when it was done.

"Holy shit.." his words echoing Jo's. They were all quiet for a moment, processing what just happened.

"What's the plan?" Sam looked up from where he had been staring at the sigils written on the floor. It was Rufus that had spoken, looking to Sam for the next move. Sam was slightly humbled and flattered that a seasoned hunter like Rufus would look to him, even with their many years difference in age.

"We need to get more people free of the spell if we can, then we need to find the source. Between the three of us, we should be able to get the rest of the people here uncursed."

"How'd you do it?" Jo spoke up, "How'd you break the spell." Sam quieted and shrugged his broad shoulders.

"I don't really know. I just did."

"Did it have something to do with those psychic powers that yellow-eyed demon gave you?" Rufus spoke up and Sam flinched.

"I didn't know you knew about that." he mumbled.

"Ain't hard to piece together the facts after everything." the older hunter rumbled, crossing his arms. Sam gave him a searching look from the corner of his eye, wary. Rufus waved his hand, "Ain't matter to me where you got it, boy, you're using it for good now. To help people, that's all that matters to me." Sam felt himself relax a bit as Jo echoed the sentiments after her initial look of surprise at Rufus's first words. Ellen hadn't told her of what was revealed at the Devil's gate apparently, so his psychic powers were news to her.

The three crept out of the room and searched the house, getting into a few scrapes with others as Sam pulled the spell off them. Their little group of three turned into four, then five and six. Seven stood with Sam in the end, not including himself. They all looked to him for guidance, and Sam couldn't help feeling pleased that they followed him, how right it felt. He was so used to following people: his dad, his brother, and even Bobby. It was surprising how well he slotted into the leadership role, even with the hunters at his back.

The group scoured the town, picking up a few stranglers here and there that were hidden in homes or sheds. Sam could feel them, the burn in his chest guiding him towards each like an advanced game of Hot n' Cold. Seven turned to fifteen before Sam was ready to head back to the house Dean had hid in with the kids.

When he got there, he found the kids, but no Dean.

"Shit, where did he go?" Sam asked Todd.

"He said he wanted to check on the base, where someone named Ellen was at." the kid explained. Sam ran a hand over his face, watching as the kids reunited with the people who had been in their initial group, one of them being Derek's father.

They all looked to Sam when the reunion was finished, waiting for his orders.

Confidence filled Sam's chest, the burn humming pleasantly as he laid out the plan to the others for when they approached the base.

"Incapacitate only, do not shoot to kill. And only shoot if they become aggressive." His voice was resonating again, the warmth coating his tongue like fine brandy, exhaling and hanging in the air like a hot breath in snowy weather.

The group moved, heading out into the street and towards the church that the others were in. They made it just in time to see two figures rush out, gunfire ripping out behind them. Sam dashed forwards, signaling the group behind him to stay put. He grabbed both by the back of their shirts as they stumbled to the ground in their scramble to avoid the hail fire. Sam hauled the two away from the rain of bullets in an impressive feat of strength, lifting both off their feet as he ducked behind an overturned car.

"Sam?!" oh, shit, one of the people Sam had grabbed was Dean. Sam looked over his brother, looking for injuries of any kind. Dean had a scrape along his temple and rope burns on his wrists, but other than that he was good. Ellen, the other person he had snatched out of the way, was a little worse for ware, with a bullet hole in the back of her thigh. Without really thinking about it, Sam reached out with burning fingers, one over her eyes, the other over her leg.

He pulled out the spell, all the wrongness in her body slipping out and fading away.

Once done, he pulled away, looking down at Ellen as she looked up at him, a look of awe (and reverence?) on her face.

"Sam.." she breathed out like a prayer.

"I got you, Ellen."

Before anything further could be said, the door to the church burst open, and people spilled out. They carried shotguns and rifles and were looking to make a mad dash for it, and take down as many 'demons' with them as possible. It was only a second before the new group spotted Sam's group.

"GET DOWN!" Sam yelled back to them as bullets rocketed from the church group. His group scattered, some falling down and army crawling away, some diving behind cars or over hedges. But one- no, two,- two fell dead on the ground. One was Derek's father, whom the teen clung to even as more bullets came and blood soaked the kid's shirt in frighteningly familiar shapes, in areas not even close to where his father's blood sprayed.

"Derek! Derek run!" Sam shouted, but the kid didn't move. Sam abandoned his spot near his brother and Ellen and ran over, narrowly dodging bullets aimed his way. He threw himself over the kid and his father, feeling as the burn sparked into an inferno in his chest, arching down his spine and over his legs, through his arms and fingers. He could feel it in his head, behind his eyes as he looked down at the two he shielded.

The teen looked up at him with wide, shocked eyes, like Sam had just turned the world upside down on him. Sam looked back, a strange sense of calm rage settling over his body. He placed a hand over both of them and reached. The inferno inside of him blooming out; it was burning away the gross, slimy feeling, and casting out the aches he knew shouldn't be there. It pulled at the pleasant warmths he could feel, cradling and cultivating them until they reached back to him and grew and grew.

Seconds, minutes, hours, days.. Time seemed suspended in that moment as Sam held the warmths that weren't his against the burning inside of him. He felt like the sun to the trees, the water to the fish, the grass to the grazers, and the breeze to the birds. The burn within him gave and gave, and the warmths around him continued to grow.

It felt like it was all too soon and way too long before Sam blinked and realized, he was no longer where he once was, kneeling on the pavement covered in blood.

He was kneeling in the grass, gunfire was absent, but there was shocked breathing around him. More than one.

Sam looked up and saw that not only was he in a different place, both groups, including Dean and Ellen, were there keeling in the grass, too. And everyone was looking at him. Including the -previously assumed- dead people.

The warmth was still behind his eyes as he looked down at Derek's father.

"Are you ok?" he asked, the resonance deep in his voice. The father nodded slowly, his eyes wide and never leaving Sam. Sam nodded back before releasing both of them.

He looked around, noticing how changed everything looked.

Trees grew high into the sky, grass and flowers grew lush along the ground, and he could hear the faint buzzings of insects. But what was strange was there was buildings. The same buildings as before, but they were overgrown with wildlife. Ivy clung to boards, trees grew from wrecked living rooms, and flowers bloomed along broken apart cement. It looked like those soft post-apocalypse movies, where nature overtakes man made structures.

He looked back to the people, all of them still kneeling and staring at him, looking at him in awe.

All but one.

Dean looked at him with horror, with rage and despair flooding his eyes. Like Sam had just taken everything in the world dear to him and crush it under foot.

Sam didn't understand.

That inky, slimy feeling came back, or at least, he took notice of what was there already. He looked down at his fist where the feeling came from and opened his fingers, revealing a golden ring.

The hour was a blur then. The fire burn inside of him dulled back into a manageable burn and he was able to concentrate. He moved around the groups, making sure the spell was gone and that everyone was ok.

Ellen was healed, the once dead people were on their feet, feeling better than ever. It was a miracle, a miracle that Sam couldn't wrap his head around. He felt like he was overly obtuse, that what he failed to understand was dangling right in front of his face and he was blind to see it.

It all came together when, after all the others had moved on to find shelter for the night, he made his way to his brother. His brother who took a step back from him as he got close.

Sam paused in front of him, hands outstretched to his side.

"Dean-"

"Don't you fucking dare." Dean spat out, venom coating his teeth as he glared hatefully at Sam. "Don't. You. Fucking. Dare." Sam was hurt, Dean's glare ripping into his body better than any knife.

"I don't understand-"

"Don't pull that bullshit on me, you evil sonovabitch." Dean looked ready to both ready to flee and ready to fight in that instance. "I don't know when he said yes or why. Maybe you tricked him or some shit, but i swear to you, i'll find a way to push you out of my brother's body or die trying."

Sam was very confused now.

"What?"

"Don't bullshit me, you feathered dick. Get out of Sam."

"Dean, i am Sam."

"Don't fuck with me, i saw your eyes light up, i saw you heal those people and make the plants and shit grow. Don't try to lie."

"Dean-"

"I just don't know why. Why you, of all angels, would heal them. Why go on with this charade when you should be happy with their deaths? But i don't care right now, i just want you out of him." Dean spat. Sam paused. Dean thought he was an angel, and by how he spoke, he had a specific one in mind. Sam thought hard, thinking back to all the things Dean was pointing out: The healings, the plants… the eyes?

It was like a dam ripping apart and the threads connected into one giant web. The burn, the feelings in his body and the new senses he had.

It was Grace.

But whos? And why did he have it? He had a thought, a nagging feeling in the back of head that whispered the name he never wanted to hear.

Breathless, he spoke to Dean, not wanting to hear what he'd say but needing the confirmation.

"Who am I then?"

"Lucifer."

But no, that didn't feel right.

"No, Dean, i'm not Lucifer, why would you think that?"

"DON'T LIE!" Dean roared, his fists balling up. "I know about you and him, i know he's your true vessel! Dont lie to me and tell me you weren't aching to wear him as a meat suit to the big boss fight. I should have seen it earlier," he ran a hand frantically through his hair, his green eyes wild, "I knew something was up ever since we got out of that church. Where you the one who pulled me out and on to that plane?"

"No!" the nagging feeling, "I mean- I don't know!" Sam threw up his hands, his mind racing as he panicked under the wave of new information. "Dean i'm not Lucifer!" he shouted, but Dean wasn't listening anymore, backing away from Sam quickly as he glared right at him with hatred.

"I'll find a way to boot you out, just you see. I'll find a way. Then, i swear to God, I'll kill you." Dean promised before dashing away, presumably to where he'd stashed the Impala.

Sam felt like his world was crashing down around him, the truckload of things piled on from what Dean had said.

Lucifer's true vessel? Like Dean was Michaels? Did that mean he was destined to be the devil? To bring hell fire and torment for all? Was there no preventing what had happened? Was he always meant to open the cage and free the Devil?

Sam could feel himself hyperventilating, his knees shaking and giving out. But he was helpless to stop it. Questions and 'what ifs' raced too fast through his brain, the burning in his chest coming from shortness of breath and anxiety rather than Grace-

Grace.

How did he get Grace? When?

He thought back to the church, the feeling of warmth filling him to the brim and washing away everything but the heat inside.

Did he have Lucifer's Grace within him? Was he who his brother claimed him to be? Would Dean hate him forever? Would he try to kill him? Hunt him like the monster his father always claimed him to be?

He was still panicking, kneeling on the ground when arms wrapped around him and hugged him close. The smell of flowery perfume and polished wood filling his nose as a soft voice soothed over him, fingers carting through his hair and helping him calm down from his panic.

"Ellen." he whispered.

"Im here, baby, i got you." her country drawl washed over his ears as she kept talking to him, walking him back to the present. After awhile, Sam pulled back, wiping at his face. Embarrassment trickled in and he tried to duck his head.

"None of that now," Ellen said, grabbing his chin and making him look up at her. "Now, i don't know what's goin' on but i know you'll find a way through it. You and your brother are the most stubborn bastards i know."

"I don't know how to get past this Ellen." Sam whispered, "Dean thinks im a monster, he-" his words were cut off as Ellen swatted him on the back of the head.

"No he don't. Your brother might have his head stuck far up his ass sometimes but never doubt that he loves you. You'll make it through this."

Sam felt himself calming at her words, relaxing previously tense muscles. He was quiet for a moment, thinking.

"What should i do now? Dean won't let me come near him without shooting." he asked. It was Ellen's turn to delve into thoughtful silence.

"Well," she began, "I think you should find yourself, before you go findin' your brother. It looks like whatever this is," she waved over him," is somethin' new that you need to figure out. Go out, figure it out. Then go home. Dean will be waiting"

Sam looked over Ellen with no small amount of wonder.

"You're right." He said slowly, pieces of a plan fitting together in his mind. He leaned back, out of Ellen's embrace and stood, helping her to her feet.

He looked around at the foliage that he, apparently, created.

He bid Ellen goodbye, passing along one for Jo and Rufus, too. He then headed out, jogging down the road, back to where he knew the Impala had previously been parked. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't there when he got there. But a small bag was. Seems his brother couldn't stand leaving him with nothing, even when he thought an angel was hitching a ride. Inside was a few changes of clothes, one set of fake credentials and a wad of money. All of his more personal items were gone, no doubt safely in his other bag in the back of the impala.

He picked the bag up and slung it over his shoulder. His knives were in place and a handgun was hidden in his belt. He had a golden ring in his fist and a long, paved road ahead of him. Sam heaved a large breath before steeling himself…

...and started walking.